Boeing Scandal Part of Deeper Problems at Pentagonby David Phinney, Special to CorpWatchJanuary 5th, 2005Military contractors like Boeing, Halliburton and Lockheed, have become increasingly embedded with the Pentagon bureaucrats who give them lucrative work as the jailing of Darleen Druyun, a former U.S. Air Force weapons buyer, demonstrates.

Iraq Contractor Claims Immunity From Fraud Lawsby David Phinney, Special to CorpWatchDecember 23rd, 2004A Virginia judge has been asked to decided whether or not Custer Battles, an upstart security company assigned to guard Baghdad airport, had defrauded its customers by as much as $50 million. But company lawyers are arguing that the United States government did not control the Iraqi oil money, seized during the occupation, used to pay the company.

Paving the Amazon with Soy
by Sasha Lilley, Special to CorpWatchDecember 16th, 2004Soy rules the central Brazilian state of Mato Grosso and it's not the soy that much of the world associates with the ostensibly eco-friendly, vegetarian diet, either. With help from the World Bank, André Maggi (the Soy King) is bankrolling the destruction of one of the world's most biodiverse ecosystems: the savanna.

“Contract Meals Disaster" for Iraqi Prisonersby David Phinney, Special to CorpWatchDecember 9th, 2004New evidence suggests that the Abu Ghraib prisoners were subjected not only to torture and psychological abuse, they were underfed, malnourished and made to eat food so bad it inspired riots. A little-known private contractor, run by an American civilian, is said to be to blame.

Dynamite in the Center of Townby Joshua Karliner, Special to CorpWatchDecember 2nd, 2004In 1984 the world's largest industrial disaster killed 8,000 people over night in Bhopal, India. Two decades later, some sort of closure might seem called for. But today survivors groups continue to struggle for justice, while the chemical industry promotes volunteer initiatives.

Clouds on the Organic Horizonby Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero, Special to CorpWatchNovember 25th, 2004Until a decade ago, organic foods were available only through tiny farmers markets, health and natural food stores, but today their growing popularity means that more organic food is now sold by chain stores like Whole Foods. Often, the food itself is grown on corporate-owned farms, no longer synonymous with small farms, rural communities, social justice and humane treatment of animals.

Cooking the Insurance Booksby Lucy Komisar, Special to CorpWatchNovember 17th, 2004As New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer charges American International Group (AIG) executives with collusion in an insurance brokerage kickback scandal, a paper trail stretching back a decade reveals that AIG used offshore shell companies to skirt the law.

Kuwait Documents Allege Halliburton Bribe Scandalby David Phinney, Special to CorpwatchNovember 11th, 2004Newly revealed documents, dating from December 2003 and the early months of 2004, allege that Halliburton staff in Kuwait asked for kickbacks from selected contractors while undermining others who were looking for work from the multi-billion dollar contracts that the company oversees for the military occupation force in Iraq.

Agent Orange Victims Sue Monsantoby Tom Fawthrop, Special to CorpWatchNovember 4th, 2004Vietnamese Association of Victims of Agent Orange (VAVA) filed a class action law suit in a New York court, against Monsanto and 36 other manufacturers of Agent Orange.

Halliburton Hit with Multiple Lawsuitsby David Phinney, Special to CorpWatchOctober 27th, 2004Companies working in support of U.S. troops in Iraq are hauling Houston-headquartered defense contractor, Halliburton, into U.S. federal court with claims that the company stiffed them for hundreds of millions of dollars after they provided essential services in the war effort.

Darfur Diplomacy: Enter the Contractors by Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatchOctober 21st, 2004Rwandan and Nigerian soldiers will arrive in western Sudan this week as the first deployment of a five nation 4,500 strong peacekeeping force dispatched from the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa to stem the violence in Darfur. Providing logistical support for the mission will be two private contractors from California, both of whom have mixed records carrying out similar enterprises in the past.

Iraq Contractor Accused of Offshore Shell Gameby David Phinney, Special to CorpWatchOctober 14th, 2004Former managers working for Custer Battles, a high-profile private security company in Iraq, are accusing the firm of using companies in the Cayman Islands and other “tax haven” countries to fraudulently overcharge on government contracts by tens of millions of dollars.

Banking on Electionsby Lucy Komisar, Special to CorpwatchOctober 6th, 2004 Finance sector invests heavily in candidates
When former Texas Senator Phil Gramm came out of the Tavern on the Green one recent August morning, his disposition turned edgy. Now a vice chairman of the Swiss financial corporation UBS, he had just left his colleagues at the Financial Services Roundtable breakfast. He wasn't keen on talking to waiting journalists, certainly not to the CorpWatch team.

"Rigged from the Beginning"
by David Phinney, Special to CorpWatchSeptember 30th, 2004A once secret Halliburton oil contract raked in billions long after the Army said the work would be competitively bid. As of September 2004 Halliburton billed over $2.5 billion. A Bechtel whistleblower calls the bidding process to break up the work, "a sham."

Leaving Children Behindby Ben Clarke, Special to CorpWatchSeptember 23rd, 2004Exam privatization threatens public schools
"They make kids in my class feel dumb," says Vanessa Verdín about the corporate-designed standardized tests that millions of U.S. students are required to take under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Vanessa, an energetic eleven year old whose hobbies include soccer, knitting and research, feels that the tests "ask the wrong questions" and "waste time when we could be learning."

Prison Interrogation for Profitby David Phinney, Special to CorpWatchSeptember 15th, 2004Private contractors face legal action for crimes in Abu Ghraib
Employees of two high-profile defense contractors are accused of involvement in close to one third of the torture and abuse incidents cited in a recent Army investigation of Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

November Surpriseby Stephen Miller, Special to CorpwatchSeptember 8th, 2004Electronic Voting Machines Add Uncertainty to Close Election Race
Across the U.S., dozens of election commissions, county clerks and voting registrars are scrambling to maintain public confidence in an election system shaken by the Florida 2000 debacle and challenged by security flaws in hi-tech electronic solutions. In the swing states, where the presidential election is expected to be close, 14 of 20 states will be experimenting with untested technology.